PHOTO | FILE Mr Adan Mohammed, Cabinet Secretary for Industrialisation
and Enterprise Development. He said the feasibility study will provide a
roadmap towards the establishment of a Free Trade Zone as envisaged in
the country’s Vision 2030 National Development Plan.
NATION MEDIA GROUP
Monday, July 29, 2013
The Government has kicked off bid to develop a Free Trade Zone in Mombasa in a move to attract foreign direct investments.
The project which is expected to be up and running
in the next 24 months will be an area within which goods may be landed,
handled, manufactured or reconfigured, and re-exported without the
intervention of the customs authorities
Through an Expression of Interest (EoI) document
published on Friday, the government is seeking the services of a
consultant to conduct a detailed feasibility study on the project.
The Industrialisation and Enterprise Development
Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed told Media Edge Public Relations said the
feasibility study will provide a roadmap towards the establishment of a
Free Trade Zone as envisaged in the country’s Vision 2030 National
Development Plan.
The proposed Mombasa Free Trade Zone, Mohamed said
will be benchmarked against some of the World’s best Free Trade Zones
including the Dubai Airport Free Zone, China’s Waigaoqiao Free Trade
Zone (WFTZ) and Malaysia’s Iskandar Free Trade Zone.
“I am optimistic that this project to establish
the country’s first dry free port will be up and running in less than 24
months," said Mohammed.
Besides promoting Foreign Direct Investments, the
facility is also expected to boost Intra-Africa trade, support economic
growth while expanding employment opportunities.
Mr Mohamed said the state is pushing for the
speedy enactment of the Special Economic Zones bill currently pending in
parliament.